:::: MENU ::::
Dec 17, 2010    |      0 comments

Masters Swimming

Nope, that’s still not me in that image. That’s what I found out I need to be working on though – trying to get to my side after a stroke. Once I get that down, I can finally breathe correctly. Determined to get my swim down, I went to Equinox’s pool after work, and it just so happens that the Masters Swim class was at 7pm. No one showed up to the class, but the instructor was happy to show me some drills and pointers since he was there. I’m finally swimming getting from one side to the other, but still very sloppy. He pointed out my head has to stay underwater, like as if I was on a skewer, and I turn side to side. That was the same comment that Coach Jason told me a few days ago too. Everything still wasn’t fluid. When I was concentrating on my arm stroke, I stop kicking, and sometimes I even hold my breathe trying to get to point to point. I still have to work on getting relaxed in the water, and I don’t have to be in a rush to get to the other side. I had a few good strokes in, but inconsistent. The instructor said that once I get my head position correctly, things will eventually come together. I’m just glad I know exactly what to do, I just have to keep practicing. It’s almost like when I was first learning how to drive stick, it was choppy at first, but now it’s effortless and I don’t even think about it. That’s my goal.

Dec 16, 2010    |      0 comments

Impulse Race Registration – Miami Beach

Who registers for a race a year ahead of time? I mean… who does that!? I do! Ok, this was purely an impulse buy… err… registation. It was $55 for the first 500 registrants, since Miami Beach RNR Half Marathon is one of the newest races added to to their already extensive list of races, plus my job reimburses $50 for each endurance race, so it’s a win/win! I’ll figure out how to get there and where I’ll stay later, but you can’t go wrong with a Rock N Roll event. Can’t wait!

Dec 16, 2010    |      0 comments

First Time on a Trainer

Tonight was my first time on a trainer. For those not in the know, it’s not quite training wheels, but it keeps your bike stationary and simulates a ride. 45 minutes on that thing is equivalent to an hour outside, but it shouldn’t be a replacement. It’s much like running on a treadmill shouldn’t replace a run outside. Tonight was a scheduled bike ride, but I got out of work late, plus I’m not comfortable riding at night anyway. I was sitting at home watching Mythbusters anyway… might as well, right? What you see above is my roommate Carlos’ trainer on a pinkish yoga mat from our friend Gretchen. It does its job. I set up Netflix to watch something on my queue, which was “Gigantic,” a Zoey Deschanel movie (that kept me motivated for sure).

Continue Reading

Dec 14, 2010    |      0 comments

Strokin’ It

See that pic above? That’s the opposite of where I’m at. Well, I’m getting there. Tonight was another Tuesday practice and I’m happy to say it’s probably my best one yet. I felt pretty strong with my kicks, but this time was my first trying to use my arms. After a few warm up drills, Coach Jason told me to just swim. What?!? Hmm… I didn’t really know how, but i tried. I actually incorporated some strokes and stopped only once to the other side of the pool. How I did it? Not really sure how. I came up for air a few times, but my rhythm was so bad, I was always out of breath.

Coach gave me a pull buoy that I can put in between my legs so I can focus on my arm and breathing movement. It was my first time using that too, so I was VERY sloppy and stumbled quite a bit trying to get used to it. Arms were swinging everywhere, I couldn’t get a comfortable breathe angle, but I eventually got some strokes in. Coach told me repeatedly I have to get my head down in the water. I guess my brain was telling me to go on survival mode and kept trying to peek up for air. He said I have to be underwater so that I can easily go on my side for air. One way to help with going on the side was to actually pull my shoulder back so that my chin follows the shoulder out of the water when I tilt back. Ahhh! It’s all coming together and making sense now. I also have to work on my fluidity of kick movement and arm movement. I was also told to try to make my arm movements like throwing a baseball and making sure my arm is stretched way out there. It was a good way for me to remember what to do.

Continue Reading

Dec 11, 2010    |      0 comments

First Brick & First Tire Change

This morning was our second bike practice with the team, and actually our first brick, which is a bike/run combo. Coach Rob said it’s called a Brick because your legs will feel like bricks. They just wanted to ease this feeling in by after doing a 90 min ride around Santa Monica from Ocean/San Vicente to the Brentwood golf course, we’ll be doing a quick 5 minute run. Since I’m on staff, I was scheduled to be sweeper, making sure everyone was on course. It was a bit weird because it’s still pretty new to me, and naturally, I’ll be the last one anyway. My level of effort was low on the bike, as I was sweeping, plus still getting used to the gears. Most importantly, the clips. I fell AGAIN when trying to cross San Vicente’s middle island. I didn’t clip out in time when I stopped pretty suddenly because of a fast car going west on San V. Ouch! Sure enough, I got up and rode again, with a stinging throb to my left leg.

Bike was done, and I was off to our transition areas. Didn’t stress out on the transition to much, as I was happy to run. It was VERY weird though running in bike shorts. It felt like I was running with a diaper with a big load (because of the heavy bike padding). Now I understand why there’s a distinction between having bike shorts and tri shorts. I think I’ll invest in a better seat instead, because come raceday, I’ll be in my tri shorts. Once the run was complete, the team gathered around Coach Rob and he pretty much showed us how to change a tire. After he showed us, we had to deflate our own tires. Luckily for me, my roommate Carlos showed me the night before, so I thought it was pretty easy changing out the tire. I’m just not comfortable yet using that CO2 inflator.

Another practice of many firsts, done. First brick, first tire change.

View Photos From Brick Practice

Dec 7, 2010    |      0 comments

Art of Medal Whoring

I didn’t really set out to get the Rock Legend Medal by completing the Rock N Roll Heavy Medal Series, until I finished the Seattle Marathon over the summer (Arizona and San Diego were the events before that). My thoughts were exactly this, “Oh, 3 Rock N Roll events done, what’s 4 more?” I was already planning to do Philadelphia, LA, and San Jose, so I just had to pick one more. Not too bad, right? I ended up skipping out on San Jose because I was on a JetBlue All You Can Jet weekend adventure in Vegas instead. My replacement event was Las Vegas. I admit, I became a medal whore in 2010 because I had this sudden addiction for collecting cool medals. That was pretty much the criteria for signing up for an event. Did they give medals? If so, I was in! Running the Rock N Roll events were even better because we get awarded special combo medals the more and more you run events. The end all be all Rock Legend Medal is approximately 3x the size of a normal medal. So check out the photos above, all the Rock N Roll medals this year.

Note: a Musical 26.2 Miles medal is still missing, I still have to e-mail them about it.

Dec 6, 2010    |      0 comments

RNR Las Vegas Half Marathon

The last time I was in Vegas was for my brother in law’s bachelor party just two weeks ago. We partied hard for sure, so much that I didn’t mind what we did this past weekend. The main reason why I signed up for this race in the first place was to complete the Rock N Roll Heavy Medal Series. That is, if you complete 7 Rock N Roll events (half or full) in one calendar year.

I flew into Vegas right after our Saturday IronTeam practice, and went straight to the Health Expo. I dunno, I can never get tired of those things! By the time I met up with my friends, they were already pretty drunk, so I had a few catch up drinks before dinner. Oh man! Carbed up with a pasta dinner, and everyone started to pass out by 9pm. What!?? It’s Vegas! I was ok with it though because of the bachelor party, but damn, 9pm! I don’t even sleep that early for full marathons. Oh well, I needed some rest anyway.

Continue Reading

Dec 4, 2010    |      0 comments

Try and Try Again – Our First Team Ride

What you see above was seconds after Coach Brad said, “Ok, let’s start our warm up ride in the parking lot.” and seconds before I fell infront of the whole team, trying to clip into my pedals! This morning was the first of many things in my IronTeam adventure. First time putting on the bike rack on my car (I was afraid my car was too small for such a thing), first time wearing all my apparel I bought at Performance, first time using my cadence computer, you get the picture. Pretty much everything was a first today. The first bike fall of the season was the highlight. Not only did I fall once, but I fell again because I unclipped right, then leaned to the left. Ouch! I cut my knee a bit, but I gotta get up and try, try again. After a quick Biking 101 by Coach Rob, we rode for an hour and a half, for a total of 18ish miles. It was my first time feeling how 15mph felt, which was my target pace for the event, and it wasn’t bad at all. I was messing around with my gearing, which I had no idea how to use. I was so nervous on the bike, that my hands hurt from gripping so hard, and I never let go to take a drink, which is big, big no-no! We had a lot of support staff on hand, so the practice overall went smoothly. I gotta say though, that I really like the bike aspect of triathlons!

View a Photo Gallery of our first team ride!

Nov 28, 2010    |      0 comments

Black and Yellow, Black and Yellow…

The past two weekends have been crazy busy with personal stuff (bachelor party two weeks ago, then my sister’s wedding this weekend). Luckily, the first bike meeting was rained out, and the other was a run, so I don’t think I missed much. I didn’t have a bike anyway… until now. My roommate Carlos told me months ago that Performance Bike was the place to go on Thanksgiving weekend because of the great deals they will have. Earlier today, I made time out of the busy weekend of my sister’s wedding with a lot of family over at my parents’ house, to make it back out to the Santa Monica shop to get an EXTRA 20% off from the already cut prices for the holiday weekend. A few days ago, I was set on getting a 2011 Cannondale CAAD10 with Ultegra components, but we’re looking at a $2,149.99 price tag. Ouch! Plus that bike looks sweet with a black and neon green color scheme. We all know, like buying running shoes, that I shouldn’t even be looking at those things. I was told by several people that I should be looking at quality derailleurs and gears. I knew I should be looking for Shimano 105s at least, but Ultegra derailleurs at best.

Continue Reading

Pages:‹1...14151617181920...29›